PORTLAND — A Portland High School teacher was arrested Wednesday for allegedly possessing child pornography.

Freeport resident Gerald White, 44, was arrested by the Maine State Police at Portland High School on 284 Cumberland Ave., according to spokesman Steve McCausland of the Maine Department of Public Safety. White was charged with with possessing sexually explicit material of someone under the age of 12 and was taken to the Cumberland County Jail.

White is an art teacher at Portland High School. On Tuesday, his computer was seized from his home on Lower Flying Point Road, and after examination, dozens of images of child pornography were allegedly discovered. None of the children depicted are believed to be from Maine, according to McCausland.

The state Computer Crimes Unit  began investigating White after receiving a tip, McCausland said.

White was placed on administrative leave by Portland Public Schools following the arrest. According to a press release, the school district was not “aware of any allegations or evidence that the teacher engaged in any such activities in school or was using school computers or networks.”

White has worked with Portland High School since 2010, when he hired as an educational technician. He began teaching art in 2013.

Gerald White